A multi-platform approach to identify a blood-based host protein signature for distinguishing between bacterial and viral infections in febrile children (PERFORM): a multi-cohort machine learning study
Authors: Heather R Jackson, Judith Zandstra, Stephanie Menikou, Melissa Shea Hamilton, Andrew J McArdle, Roman Fischer, Adam M Thorne, Honglei Huang, Michael W Tanck, Machiel H Jansen, Tisham De, Philipp K A Agyeman, Ulrich Von Both, Enitan D Carrol, Marieke Emonts, Irini Eleftheriou, Michiel Van der Flier, Colin Fink, Jolein Gloerich, Ronald De Groot, Henriette A Moll, Marko Pokorn, Andrew J Pollard, Luregn J Schlapbach, Maria N Tsolia, Effua Usuf, Victoria J Wright, Shunmay Yeung, Dace Zavadska, Werner Zenz, Lachlan J M Coin, Climent Casals-Pascual, Aubrey J Cunnington, Federico Martinon-Torres, Jethro A Herberg, Marien I de Jonge, Michael Levin, Taco W Kuijpers, Myrsini Kaforou, Heather Ruth Jackson, Judith Zandstra, Stephanie Menikou, Shea Hamilton, Andrew J McArdle, Tisham De, Philipp K A Agyeman, Ulrich Von Both, Enitan D Carrol, Marieke Emonts, Irini Eleftheriou, Michiel Van der Flier, Colin Fink, Ronald De Groot, Henriette A Moll, Marko Pokorn, Andrew Pollard, Luregn J Schlapbach, Maria Tsolia, Effua Usuf, Victoria Wright, Shunmay Yeung, Dace Zavadska, Werner Zenz, Lachlan JM Coin, Aubrey J Cunnington, Federico Martinon-Torres, Jethro Herberg, Marien I De Jonge, Michael Levin, Taco Kuijpers, Myrsini Kaforou, Amina Abdulla, Christoph Aebi, Rachel Agbeko, Ladan Ali, Wynand Alkema, Karen Allen, Suzanne Anderson, Imran Ansari, Tasnim Arif, Tanja Avramoska, Bryan Baas, Natalija Bahovec, Anda Balode, Arta Bãrdzdina, A M Barendregt, Ruth Barral-Arca, David Bath, Sebastian Bauchinger, Lucas Baumard, Hinrich Baumgart, Frances Baxter, Kathryn Bell, Ashley Bell, Xabier Bello, Evangelos Bellos, Martin Benesch, Joshua Bennet, Christoph Berger, Sara Bernhard-Stirnemann, Sagida Bibi, Christoph Bidlingmaier, Alexander Binder, Vera Binder, Jennifer Blackmore, Kalifa Bojang, Dorine M Borensztajn, Karen Brengel-Pesce, Claire Broderick, Judith Buschbeck, Leonides Calvo-Bado, Sandra Carnota, Michael J Carter, María Barreiro Castro, Miriam Cebey-López, Samba Ceesay, Astrid Ceolotto, Adora Chan, Elizabeth Cocklin, Kalvin Collings, Stephen Crulley, María José Curras-Tuala, Umberto D'alessandro, Giselle D'Souza, Katharina Danhauser, Saffiatou Darboe, Sarah Darnell, L De Haan, Gabriella De Vries, Dãrta Deksne, Kirsty Devine, Juan Emmanuel Dewez, W Dik, Julia Dudley, Ernst Eber, Daniel Fabian, Cristina Balo Farto, Sonia Serén Fernández, Katy Fidler, Elizabeth Fitchett, Rachel Galassini, Siegfried Gallisti, Mirian Ben García, Dace Gardovska, J Geissler, G P J M Gerrits, Eric Giannoni, Jolein Gloerich, Alberto Gómez-Carballa, Fernando Álves González, Gunther Gores, Dagne Grãvele, Matthias Griese, Ilze Grope, Meeru Gurung, Nikolaus Haas, Dominic Habgood-Coote, Nienke N Hagedoorn, Harald Haidl, Rebekah Harrison, Almuthe Hauer, J Heidema, Ulrich Heininger, Stefanie Henriet, Martin Hibberd, Cllive Hoggart, Susanne Hösele, Sara Hourmat, Christa Hude, Martijn Huijnen, Pilar Leboráns Iglesias, Marisol Vilas Iglesias, Rebecca Jennings, Joanne Johnson, Ilse Jongerius, Rikke Jorgensen, Christian Kahlert, Rama Kandasamy, Matthias Kappler, Markus Keldorfer, Dominic F Kelly, Aakash Khanijau, Nayoung Kim, Eunjung Kim, Sharon King, Laura Kolberg, Mojca Kolnik, Lieke Kloosterhuis, Daniela S Kohlfürst, Benno Kohlmaier, Larissa Krenn, Simon Leigh, Manuel Leitner, Baptiste Leurent, Emma Lim, Naomi Lin, Ching-Chuan Liu, Sabine Löffler, Eberhard Lurz, Christine Mackerness, Ian Maconochie, Francois Mallet, Antonis Marmarinos, Alex Martin, Mike Martin, José María Martinón Sánchez, Nazareth Martinón-Torres, Paul McAlinden, Sam McDonald, Anne McDonell, Anija Meiere, Anne Meierford, C J Miedema, Alec Miners, Ravi Mistry, Marine Mommert, Sophie Morris, Georg Muench, David R Murdoch, Sobia Mustafa, Giancarlo Natalucci, C Neeleman, Karen Newall, Samuel Nichols, Anita Niederer-Loher, Tobias Niedrist, Ruud Nijman, Ieve Nokalna, Gudrun Nordberg, Daniel O'Connor, C C Obihara, Zoe Oliver, Wilma Oosthoek, Miguel Sadiki Ora, Veronika Osterman, Alexandre Pachot, D Pajkrt, Jacobo Pardo-Seco, Jana Pavãre, Ivonne Pena Paz, Stéphane Paulus, Belén Mosquera Pérez, Salina Persand, Andreas Pfleger, Klaus Pfurtscheller, Ria Philipsen, Alisa Pickering, Benjamin Pierce, Heidemarie Pilch, Sara Pischedda, Lena Pölz, Klara M Posfay-Barbe, Oliver Powell, Petra Prunk, Zanda Pučuka, Glorija Rajic, Aqeela Rashid, Lorenzo Redondo-Collazo, Karl Reiter, Christa Relly, Mathew Rhodes, Jose Gómez Rial, Vivien Richmond, Thomas Riedel, Irene Rivero Calle, Anna Roca, Siegfried Rödl, Lidia Piñeiro Rodríguez, Carmen Rodríguez-Tenreiro, Sam Romaine, Emily Rowlands, Aleksandra Rudzate, Manfred Sagmeister, Momodou Saidykhan, Antonio Sallas, Isatou Sarr, Carola Schoen, D Schonenberg, Nina Schweintzger, Fatou Secka, Katrīna Selecka, Priyen Shah, Ching-Fen Shen, Shrijana Shrestha, Andrea Skrabl-Baumgartner, Joshua Soon, Matthias Sperl, Evelien Sprenkeler, Nikos Spyridis, Tina Plankar Srovin, Laura Stampfer, Molly Stevens, Martin Stocker, Volker Strenger, Carlos Durán Suárez, Dace Svile, Kelly Syggelou, Chantal Tal, Maria Tambouratzi, Emma Tavliavini, Clare Thakker, Evelyn Thomson, Stephen Throson, Holger Till, G A Tramper-Stranders, Cristina Serén Trasorras, Andreas Trobisch, Urzula Nora Urbãne, Mariama Usman, Lucille Valentine, Koen Van Aerde, J M Van den Berg, Bryan Van den Broek, Ilona Van der Giessen, M Van der Kuip, Fabian Van der Velden, A M Van Furth, Alain J Van Gool, M Van Leur, G van Mierlo, Sara Ray Vázquez, Clementien Vermont, Luisa García Vicente, Katarina Vincek, Ortensia Vito, Marie Voice, Diane Wallia, Ben Walsh, Shih-Min Wang, Catherine Wedderburn, Esther Willems, Clare Wilson, Amanda Wood, Phil Woodsford, Verena Wyss, Marietta Xagorari, Joany Zachariasse, Syed M A Zaman, Christoph Zurl, Manuela Zwerenz
Journal: The Lancet Digital Health (2023)

Differentiating between self-resolving viral infections and bacterial infections in children who are febrile is a common challenge, causing difficulties in identifying which individuals require antibiotics. Studying the host response to infection can provide useful insights and can lead to the identification of biomarkers of infection with diagnostic potential. This study aimed to identify host protein biomarkers for future development into an accurate, rapid point-of-care test that can distinguish between bacterial and viral infections, by recruiting children presenting to health-care settings with fever or a history of fever in the previous 72 h.